Piloted Midnights Will Power the Bulk of FAA Testing

The first trio of Archer Midnights is on the way to completion, representing what the company calls its "first three conforming" aircraft in its long road to wider mass production.

The aircraft are already far enough along in the process to eye final assembly in the coming weeks, with parts being collated, machined, and installed at Archer's San Jose, California home. The piloted aircraft will be used in FAA certification testing later this year, moving on towards "for credit" demonstrations as Archer continues working on commercialization for the eVTOL design.

“The key to achieving FAA certification is flying a conforming aircraft. I believe we are positioned to be the first in the sector to do so.” said Archer Founder & CEO Adam Goldstein. “From day one, Archer’s strategy has been to build an aircraft that is certifiable and manufacturable at scale. This focus is what has allowed us to move quicker and more efficiently than any other company in the industry over the last few years.”

“Midnight is progressing efficiently through our flight test program,” said Goldstein at last month’s completion of phase 1 testing.. “Over the last four years of flight testing, our team has been able to gather a tremendous amount of data and learnings that enable us to advance Midnight rapidly towards certification. Our team’s focus on safety and relentless execution has gotten us to where we are today and is what will allow us to achieve what no other company in the world has done to date - bring electric air taxis to cities across the U.S. and the globe.” 

FMI: www.archer.com